Chicago @ Texas preview
Choctaw Stadium
Last Meeting ( Apr 27, 2010 ) Chi. White Sox 2, Texas 4
Not long ago, Jake Peavy and Rich Harden were among the elite pitchers in the game, but injuries have derailed both of them the past two seasons.
Now, they are both trying to reinvent themselves this year with new teams and have gotten off to rocky starts. They will each try to rebound at the other's expense on Wednesday night at Rangers Ballpark. Peavy makes his fifth start for the Chicago White Sox, while Harden makes start No. 5 for the Texas Rangers.
Peavy, who pitched in three games for the White Sox last season after being acquired from the Padres, is coming off one of the worst starts in his career - lasting only 4 1/3 innings in the White Sox’s 10-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday. Peavy allowed seven runs and seven hits while issuing a career-high seven walks.
In his previous start on April 17, Peavy looked sharp against the Cleveland Indians, permitting two runs on four hits in 7 1/3 innings. He will be making his first career start against the Rangers.
The White Sox came into this series riding a high after sweeping the Seattle Mariners, including twice with walk-off victories. But, for whatever reason, the South Siders haven’t been able to translate that success on the road.
After Tuesday’s loss to open the three-game series, the White Sox fell to 2-6 on the road this year.
The Rangers, on the other hand, improved to 6-5 at home and hope to inch closer to the .500-mark by the end of April.
To do that, Harden has to simply pitch better and more efficiently. In his first four starts this season, Harden has yet to earn a victory in a Rangers uniform and has averaged nearly 22 pitches an inning.
On Friday against the Detroit Tigers, Harden went only 4 1/3 innings and needed 99 pitches to do so. Harden allowed two runs on six hits with five strikeouts and four walks. For the season, he has issued 18 walks in 17 2/3 innings.
Despite his early struggles, the Rangers are willing to wait for Harden to figure it out at the major league level. After all, they have 6.5 million reasons to be patient with him.
Against the White Sox, Harden is 3-3 with a 3.00 ERA in seven career starts.
Harden will likely throw to catcher Matt Treanor, who was named the No. 1 catcher on Tuesday afternoon. Later that night, Treanor was the star of the game, going 2-for-3 with a solo home run and a two-run double. Those hits, somewhat surprisingly, were the first extra-base hits from Rangers’ catchers this season.
Treanor was also a pleasant surprise offensively because Texas slugger Nelson Cruz was placed on the disabled list Tuesday.
Outside of Treanor, Josh Hamilton and Vladimir Guerrero had two hits for the Rangers, as well.
And, finally, three weeks into the season Rangers reliever Frank Francisco picked up his first save of the season. Francisco began the season as the team's closer but struggled out of the gate. He was given his first opportunity on Tuesday night since being demoted on April 11 and came through. Still, it’s unsure whether that was enough to unseat current closer Neftali Feliz.